How to use OBC (and what is its best use)?

[Gingery_2120]

Taking our first Celebrity Cruise a couple of weeks.  We have $200 OBC and are wondering how do we redeem it?  And in general, what would be the best use of the credit?  We already have the standard packages and I don’t think we’ll be upgrading drinks and Wi-Fi (unless it is recommended).

Thanks in advance!

[cmaleblanc]

We normally use our OBC on specialty restaurants and anything left we use at the casino.  In reality you can use it for anything. On a past cruise before the AI pricing we saved it and used it to make sure we had a buffer for the gratuities. 

 

You're OBC is shown on your reservation on the celebrity page, and if you prepurchase anything through the site you can use the OBC. if you wait until you're on the ship, it acts as a cousin so as you charge items to your room bill, the OBC is used first, before they charge your CC, from our experience. 

 

I know some people will use it to pick up excursions through the ship, but we find better prices for those with our TA and haven't had any issue. So, we really reserve our OBC for on board specials.

[neminem]

Personally I always upgrade my drinks, cause I enjoy walking around drinking cocktails all the time + whatever wine I want at dinner, and I've always gotten the classic package included, so the upgrade price has always made sense for me. If you only enjoy fancy cocktails or more expensive wine occasionally, you can also just pay the difference for each drink, which would also go to your OBC, though. You can also use it on upgraded meals. (Celebrity's basic dinners are great, but the upgraded ones are even better!)

 

And yeah, I've never had a problem with the speed of basic "included" wifi. More of a pain that you only get one device connected per person at a time, so I just have my computer set up to act as a repeater to my phone, so if I'm using my computer, my phone can connect to my computer's wifi, then my computer is connected to the ship's wifi. 😄

[cruisestitch]

Because this gets asked so often I've compiled a list of things to spend OBC on. The only thing I know of now that you CAN'T buy with OBC is a deposit on a Future Cruise. You need a credit card for that.  Also, there may be some card game in the casino with a cash only buy-in.   If they do a fundraiser, like selling t-shirts to “save the reefs” and the like, expect to need cash for that.  Otherwise, here you go:

 

 

*Acupuncture

*Airport transfers

*Alcove Rental (some ships)

*Apple products etc. and Ilounge classes

*Art Auction Purchases

*Babysitting

*Barber Shop services 

*Behind the Scenes Tours

*Beverages -- Alcoholic, carbonated soft drinks, specialty coffees and teas, bottled water — if not in your package, also beverages above your package limits

*Bingo and Deal or No Deal

*Bottles of wine

*Casino

*Chef’s Table

*Corkage charged if you bring your own bottles of wine to the MDR

*Duty free liquor and cigarettes

*Extra cost entrees and other items in Main Dining Room and specialty restaurants

*Extend Your Stay program

*Fitness classes

*Flowers

*Gelato

*Gift shop souvenirs, purses, watches, cosmetics, clothing, jewelry, etc.

*Gratuities, and extra gratuities

*Guests dining with you in Luminae (applies to Suite Passengers only)

*Guest entertainers' CD's and DVD's

*Hair and nail salon

*Hollywood hot glass experiences (some ships)

*Internet if not in your package, also Internet upcharges 

*Laundry/pressing/drycleaning

*Liquor Tasting events

*Luggage Valet

*Martini Flights

*Medical Center purchases 

*Mini bar

*Portrait photo sessions

*Pay-per-view movies

*Persian Gardens passes

*Personal Training Sessions

*Photos & cameras

*Room service up charge items, and late night delivery fee

*Ryde spinning classes

*Shore Excursions

*Shuttle to town (some ports)

*Spa -- massages and treatments

*Specialty restaurants

*Teeth Whitening

*Telephone calls using ship's system

*Transfer to another passenger's account

*Voyage in Review DVD

*Wine and liquor tastings

*Zumba

[Gingery_2120]

Great stuff - thanks everyone!!

[NutsAboutGolf]

My order of preference:

Shore excursions

Specialty Restaurants

Casino room charge for $200, cashout/print voucher, bring voucher to the casino cashier = $200 in cash

[fenton04]

Has anyone bought a round of drinks at a bar with OBC?  👀

[tarps]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

My order of preference:

Shore excursions

Specialty Restaurants

Casino room charge for $200, cashout/print voucher, bring voucher to the casino cashier = $200 in cash

Can you please explain how to make a “casino room charge”.

[jmdlv1]

7 minutes ago, tarps said:

Can you please explain how to make a “casino room charge”.

Charge the chips or slot ticket to your room and pay it off using OBC.

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 minutes ago, tarps said:

Can you please explain how to make a “casino room charge”.

 

Your (casino) account will get flagged so if you actually want to gamble, wait until towards the end of the sailing.

 

Slot machine, room charge, press cash out, bring the voucher to the cashier.  Any slot employee will be happy to help you perform a room charge

 

Some ships, reportedly the Reflection require you to perform the room charge at the cashier which might be easier for some; the process is the same, they'll give you a voucher and you can cash it out later at the cashier.

[NutsAboutGolf]

[cruisestitch]

37 minutes ago, fenton04 said:

Has anyone bought a round of drinks at a bar with OBC?  👀

Anything you charge to your SeaPass account can come out of your OBC.  

[wrk2cruise]

7 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Anything you charge to your SeaPass account can come out of your OBC.  

 

And done automatically.   OBC is applied as a credit to your account (negative ledger entry) and offsets any charges.   If you have both refundable and non-refundable then the non-refundable is used first, again automatically.   

 

If you still have a negative balance at the end of the cruise then that amount will be credited back to your credit card on file or can be retrieved in cash from guest relations the last day of the cruise up to the amount of refundable OBC.   Any remaining non-refundable OBC is forfeited even if you are on a B2B as all accounts are closed at the end of each sailing.

Edited November 29, 2022 by wrk2cruise

[tarps]

29 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Your (casino) account will get flagged so if you actually want to gamble, wait until towards the end of the sailing.

 

Slot machine, room charge, press cash out, bring the voucher to the cashier.  Any slot employee will be happy to help you perform a room charge

 

Some ships, reportedly the Reflection require you to perform the room charge at the cashier which might be easier for some; the process is the same, they'll give you a voucher and you can cash it out later at the cashier.

 

 

“Account flagged” meaning my seapass card wouldn’t work in a slot machine in order to play?

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 minutes ago, tarps said:

 

 

“Account flagged” meaning my seapass card wouldn’t work in a slot machine in order to play?

 

Correct, you'll need to convince a casino manager that you're willing to gamble more if they remove the flag.  They let you do it one time in hopes that you will gamble.  Your seapass card will work for everything else.

[wrk2cruise]

I thought it was flagged if until you gambled 10%, not allowing you to make another withdrawal from your seapass account.

 

I saw this with someone we were traveling with where they had taken some OBC as cash and then the Casino was offering $5 promotional play that night.  That person was not able to get to the promo screen to get the $5 until speaking with an attendant.

 

Other than that they had no problem playing the slots even when "flagged".   I think the flag limits the menus available at the screen on the machine.   It will still let you put your card in and turn green and gamble.   My understanding.

[tarps]

Thank you very much for the explanation.     So I see they frown upon this sort of thing.    Will only do it if I’ve not been able to use it up any other way.

[cruisestitch]

52 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Your (casino) account will get flagged so if you actually want to gamble, wait until towards the end of the sailing.

 

Slot machine, room charge, press cash out, bring the voucher to the cashier.  Any slot employee will be happy to help you perform a room charge

 

Some ships, reportedly the Reflection require you to perform the room charge at the cashier which might be easier for some; the process is the same, they'll give you a voucher and you can cash it out later at the cashier.

This absolutely did not work on Reflection in February.  The voucher could only be gambled (and any winnings cashed out) and the voucher could NOT be cashed out later at the cashier.

[wrk2cruise]

2 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

This absolutely did not work on Reflection in February.  The voucher could only be gambled (and any winnings cashed out) and the voucher could NOT be cashed out later at the cashier.

 

My experience on Reflection and Constellation as well.   The key in the casino poster above is the term "Promotional credits".     We have the same issue with any credits purchased in the cruise planner.  They are promotional and only winnings can be cashed out (the entire amount, not just the extra 10%).

[NutsAboutGolf]

4 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

This absolutely did not work on Reflection in February.  The voucher could only be gambled (and any winnings cashed out) and the voucher could NOT be cashed out later at the cashier.

 

Thanks for the datapoint

[fenton04]

56 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Anything you charge to your SeaPass account can come out of your OBC.  

I did not mean to mislead everyone that I would be picking up the tab. 

🍻